I read, courtesy of Stuff, an article referring to a recruitment drive by the Department of Corrections. They were advertising on the back of buses in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty. The advertisement featured a smiling young Maori lady in a prison officer uniform. The ad asks candidates to “become the change for our Waikato whanau”. It also has the words “join today, change tomorrow”.
For the life of me, I can’t see anything wrong with that. But, as usual, somebody did. The somebody was a Hamilton resident, Jason Ake, a communications professional. He said the ad “jumped out to me as being racist and offensive”. Its underlying message is Maori are criminals, perpetuating a stereotype”. Ake is the general manager, of communications, at Waikato – Tainui iwi, but was opining in his personal capacity.
The Department of Corrections reacted by issuing an immediate grovelling apology to Tainui and arranged to have the ads removed asap.
How many times over the years have we heard that Maori looking after Maori deliver the best outcomes? So you put a smiling Maori lady on the back of a bus to presumably deliver that message, Maori looking after Maori, and it’s racially discriminatory. Rather it highlights a well-known fact, too many Maori are in prison and need to find a path to a better future. Mr Ake didn’t dispute that Maori make up over half of the prison population.
Either Maori helping Maori is a good thing or, as per Mr Ake, it’s racist. They can’t have it both ways. What if it had been a white face on the back of the bus? I suppose that would be fine as it would give the impression that only white people inhabit our prisons.
The Department of Corrections needs to grow a pair and go and educate Mr Ake as to the reason the ads were designed the way they were.
If you were to run a poll it is most unlikely that a majority of people would have been offended by the ad or subscribed to Mr Ake’s view of it. Some Maori need to think twice before jumping to incorrect racist conclusions.
We are one people and who features on the back of a bus should not be of concern to anyone. The supposed racial divide in this country is continually promoted by this government, via its Maori Caucus, and those preferring to look in the rearview mirror. It needs to stop.
